Russia Discloses A Scheme To Save Three Crew Members Of The Space Station

January

12

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Along with stepping into space, the astronauts take a lot of risks in their lives to explore the world. Recently three crewmates from the International Space Station agency spacecraft have been suffering and need special management to return home. 

Now, Russia has revealed that it will save its spacecraft members. The International Space Station (ISS) will receive an empty spacecraft from the Russian space agency Roscosmos in late February. The empty spacecraft will carry three crew members: Sergey Prokopyev, Dmitry Petelin, and Francisco Rubio.

After the Soyuz MS-22 spacecraft developed a leak in December while it was docked to the ISS, the Soyuz resulted in loss of a significant amount of coolant after its docking. The agency has been evaluating several solutions.

A return trip in the damaged capsule was considered too unsafe for the three crew members by Russian officials after an assessment. This is because the temperature and humidity may increase to unacceptable levels without the coolant. 

On February 20, it will deploy a second Soyuz spacecraft to the ISS and return the currently docked craft for examination. The chairman of Roscosmos, Yuri Borisov, made the following interesting statement during a media conference on Wednesday. 

“After analysing the spacecraft’s condition, thermal calculations, and technical documents, it has been determined that the MS-22 must be landed without a person on board.”

A few changes to the original timetable will result from the revised strategy. Prokopyev, Petelin, and Rubio will likely stay on the ISS for at least several months past their intended return date in March. After completing the exact time in ISS, they will enter the spacecraft of the Russian space agency.   

The upcoming Soyuz MS-23 spacecraft was meant to transport cosmonauts Oleg Kononenko, Nikolai Chub, and NASA astronaut Loral O’Hara to the station in March. 

However, for the time being, they will remain on Earth. NASA’s schedule for the SpaceX Crew-6 trip, which is presently scheduled for mid-February, may potentially be affected by the current circumstances.

The spacecraft that is berthed at the ISS serves as both a transport home and an emergency escape vehicle if the orbiting station is under threat from a disaster. 

In such a situation, it is conceivable that the three crew members may seek refuge inside the damaged spacecraft, but Roscosmos is now examining the viability of such a process.

The damaged Soyuz spacecraft and the SpaceX Crew Dragon, which in October carried two Americans, one Japanese astronaut, and one Russian astronaut to the station, are both now parked at the International Space Station (ISS). 

The idea of using the Crew Dragon to return all seven astronauts to Earth after their mission was floated last week, but this plan now seems to have been abandoned. The findings of Roscosmos’ study point to a micrometeoroid hitting the Soyuz capsule violently as the likely source of the leak, the agency stated.

About the author, Awais Rasheed

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